theism provides an explanation for the delicate balance of complex variables tha
ID: 1998214 • Letter: T
Question
theism provides an explanation for the delicate balance of complex variables that maintains the universe and makes the existence of life on our planet possible. on the other hand, the atheist must chalk this balance up to an enormous series of fortunate but random events that had no prevision of the ends they were achieving. but modern science continues to require this belief. for this reason, the scientis and religious mystic Albert Einstein referred to the belief that the world is mathematically ordered as a miracle creed . Although the argument from design is not absolutely cinclusive . could it be argued that theism provides the best explanation for the order in the universe?
Explanation / Answer
Yes, Strengths (of the teleological argument)
Cosmological arguments begin with the bare fact that there are contingently existing things and end with conclusions concerning the existence of a cause with the power to account for the existence of those contingent things. Teleological arguments (or arguments from design) by contrast begin with a much more specialized catalogue of properties and end with a conclusion concerning the existence of a designer with the intellectual properties (knowledge, purpose, understanding, foresight, wisdom, intention) necessary to design the things exhibiting the special properties in question. In broad outline, then, teleological arguments focus upon finding and identifying various traces of the operation of a mind in nature's temporal and physical structures, behaviors and paths. Order of some significant type is usually the starting point of design arguments. Various advocates have focused on different types, levels and instances of order, have suggested different logical connections between order, design and designer and have pursued different levels of rigor—from Bayesian formalisms to the deadly serious whimsy of G.K. Chesterton:
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.